Ball to sell off Metalpack joint venture for $1.35B

WESTMINSTER — Consumer packaging and industrial products maker Sonoco Products Co. (NYSE: SON) is buying Ball Metalpack, a joint venture between Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL) and California venture-capital firm Platinum Equity that manufactures steel containers for aerosol products, food, household consumables, pet food and other products.

The price tag on the deal, which is expected to close early next year, is $1.35 billion.

Ball Metalpack was formed in 2018, with Ball contributing  its U.S. steel food and aerosol packaging manufacturing assets and PE pitching in $600 million. Ball owns 49% of the venture and PE 51%.

“Three years ago [Ball CEO] John Hayes came to us with a clear-eyed vision for what Ball Metalpack could accomplish by creating a structure that would bring us together as partners and deploy the full Platinum toolkit to create value,” Platinum Equity partner Louis Samson said in a prepared statement. “We quickly mapped out a plan, negotiated a deal that aligned our interests, and then our teams went to work. I’m proud that by joining forces we were able to deliver on behalf of the company and its shareholders.”

Platinum Equity is a global private equity firm with $13 billion of assets under management and a highly specialized focus on business operations.

Ball Metalpack is projected to generate approximately $850 million in revenue this year, South Carolina-based Sonoco estimates.

“We’ve had a long relationship with the Ball Metalpack team, including previously owning and operating two of their manufacturing facilities in Canton, Ohio,” Sonoco CEO Howard Coker said in a prepared statement. “With a comprehensive and innovative product portfolio that has received significant recent investments in new technology and capacity, we believe the addition of Ball Metalpack will further strengthen our stable cash flow generation while driving solid earnings accretion.”

The acquisition is not expected to cause any operational changes for Ball Metalpack, which, after closing, will be part of Sonoco’s consumer-packaging division. Ball Metalpack CEO Jim Peterson will continue to lead the operation. 

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is serving as exclusive financial adviser to Sonoco, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is as legal adviser. Goldman Sachs is Ball’s financial adviser on the sale. 

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